Watered Garden

Our new, beautiful, flashy black and white tricolor cocker spaniel is named "Miss Bodacious Buckeye." She is five months old now, full of sass and dash, a real snuggler and cute as a button. We call her Buckeye, or sometimes just "Bucks" which is what she cost us. Her first trick was racing to the car or truck to go for a ride when we picked up the keys and asked her "GO BUCKS!?" My grandson, an Ohio State fan from his cradle, named her. Everyone thinks she's a boydog, but we don't care. WG

Here is an abstract of another study. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/...000005/00335872 But then again, we don't really know what kind of lights they used. I like medical mysteries, but I'm not into film. WG

As I recall, his eyes were red and squinty at the end of PFAL class. But you're right there is no conclusive evidence one way or the other, and anyone who is still alive and was part of the class may not have known, either. The one doctor I knew who could possibly answer the question is in California. Maybe some day I'll run across him. He actually wrote books on the treatment of ocular melanoma. WG

From the thread "You Really Caught My Eye" here is a link to a British article about the connection between overexposure to UV light and ocular melanoma: http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Cancertype/...elanomaoftheeye WG

I can probably find a death certificate around here if I look, but not tonight. I think my dad's was 1. Cause of death - myocardial infarction. 2. metastatic malignant melanoma This would be: 1. Immediate cause of death. 2. other, and possibly contributing, factors In his case it was the chemo that caused the MI, but of course no one wanted to write THAT down. Or if I shuffled off this mortal coil it could be 1. ???? 2. Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (which could have contributed to #1 or not) http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Cancertype/...elanomaoftheeye Link above for those who were wondering about its cause and where it starts, etc. Specifically states that exposure to UV light is one cause. WG

Did they really say he had ADHD? Because my precious grandson's mother thinks he has it and desperately wants him drugged within an inch of his life so she won't have to deal with it! And The Sprout's Sprout LOVES to swim! I got him lessons this summer, maybe I should try to continue them somehow to give him an outlet for his energy. WG

A melanoma that is not easily seen on the skin can do its deadly work for a while before it is detected and removed. His had already metastasized internally. When I worked in a cancer hospital, I had a conversation with the secretary of the ophthalmologist who specialized in ocular melanoma, and she told me that it likes the liver and it seems that ocular melanoma almost always ends up there if not caught in time. Perhaps it also metastasized to the brain, accounting for the lack of coherency of thought and speech. However, narcotic medications can also do that. Liver cancer of any type is excruciatingly painful, as is pancreatic malignancy. Personally, I'm in favor of making the hospice patient as comfortable as possible, simply because I do not see the benefit of suffering nor do I believe that suffering a long, slow, painful death is a grace from God and that the decedent then shares in the cross of Christ. WG

I just got back from a loved one's funeral. She died of metastatic cancer which included her liver. WW I'm not going there with you. His name is clearly written on the death certificate. You could always ask him yourself. One thing I did notice about VPW was that in his last teaching, which I saw on VHS, he was white as a sheet. So was my loved one. It indicates severe anemia. She had lost weight over over a year, but she bloated a good bit in the last couple of weeks. Morphine, oxycodone, etc. are easy enough to accidentally overdose. My family member had many visitors, and someone always stayed the night, and there were people there who thought they knew a great deal more than they did. When my aunt died several years ago, in hospice care, the hospice nurse gave her what looked like to me very large doses of viscous Valium by injection. It probably helped depress her central nervous system. Was it murder or suicide? I didn't look at it that way at the time. She had, as they say, actively entered the dying process. I mean, what's the use? Is it right to withhold pain medication in the hopes of more conscious suffering? WG

NERDY????????? Seriously, I'm so thankful you are okay. 49 is pretty young for that sort of thing. Take care of yourself. Listen to your doctors. Sorry I didn't say this sooner but Mr. Garden's mom died Wednesday and we've been gone until today. She was 84 and it wasn't her heart. WG

I have two wonderful grandchildren (almost 2 anyway) and a great daughter-in-law I would never have had if I hadn't left TWI, because they told me to "get rid of" the Sprout. What happened to Waysider's picture? I think there is a verse about God giving back the years that the locusts have eaten. No time to look it up, though, right now. WG

Didn't somebody just post a link to his death certificate? VPW died of metastatic ocular melanoma. As I'm sure you all know, malignant melanoma is a vicious cancer that usually starts as a weird looking freckle or mole on the skin. That is what we call the primary malignancy. When it metastasizes, it can go internally into various organs, in fact, just about anywhere. However, melanoma can also ORIGINATE in an internal organ, i.e., the stomach, brain, wherever. VP's melanoma was a very unusual, but not terribly uncommon primary ocular melanoma. These occur in the eye, and at that time, the only possible treatment was removal of the entire globe. Nowadays, they can put a tiny, tiny plaque of radioactive material right on the tumor that will stop it in its tracks, though the hapless patient may still lose his vision. Unfortunately, VP's eye was not removed before his cancer metastasized to his liver and ultimately caused his demise. The death certificate states he died of metastatic melanoma, I believe. So if I have made a short story long, hopefully I've explained a little bit. WG

Hi, it's me, the starter of the other thread. This one is interesting too. I can't listen to the link because we had to disable our speakers to plug the camera cable and dowload pictures of our adorable grandson and the Sprout's wedding. It did occur to me, though, unfortunately a lot of men (present company excluded of course) read the part about the husband being the head over the wife and close the book. It's when the guys study the part about the relationship being as that of Christ to His church, and then go back and think about what Christ DID for His church, that things just start to get really sweet. WG

I have a relative under hospice care and one of the nurses told the family that one way you can tell when the end is near is when the person will not or cannot eat. I kind of doubt if CG knew that; he seems to have sort of had tunnel vision that only let him see what he wanted to see. With the cancer having spread to his liver and possibly to his brain (I was told by someone and then think I also read it here a few years back that he had had a stroke post eye removal), it would be no wonder if he decided to just let himself die. Comfort measures are all that is available to someone in his condition. As far as "why didn't he just believe for perfect health?" well, gee whiz that's a good question. If in fact what he taught was true, well, why didn't he? I don't know. Neither does anyone else except the Veepster, and he's ever so dead. WG

WB, I am not sure what you mean by suicide. I never really read the POP paper, but I understand that CG stated that VPW had lost the will or believing or whatever to live. I am aware that he had a very grim diagnosis of a long, slow, painful death from metastatic malignant melanoma. That alone would make some folks wish for hospice care and to go quietly. WG

Tzaia, YOU ROCK!!!! The very suggestion you leave a nursing infant behind is absolutely outrageous. Of course, if the baby had become ill while you were away, you would then have bgeen castigated for "weakness" or "lack of believing" and your husband would have been encouraged to discard you and your baby like used KLeenex. I don't think in retrospect that anything TWI promoted enriched the family - just their own coffers. WG

The first time I ever took that socalled class I had been "in" about a year and it was at a "camp" at some university in Indiana, Ball State I think. I was so disgusted I wanted to leave. The doctor I worked for, who I called long distance, and JAL talked me out of it. Absolutely it was pornography! There are some things people don't need to see pictures of to figure out. And people were telling me this great man of God who was so modest and had had such a strict religious upbringing and outlook had to "renew his mind" to bring us this class to bless our lives. I could fertilize my whole garden twice with that kind of organic fertilizer! WG

Her maiden name was Weigel or Wigel. Harve Platig is her stepbrother. Randy and Paula lived with us in Athens for a while. She was a real sweetheart. She was on staff for a while after they split. (I think Randy became a deprogrammer and spent some time in the slammer somewhere for it). I have no idea after that. WG

Congratulations! That is truly wonderful news! WG

When we were in Charleston, there was a wonderful, bright young woman named An**la Le* who ended up getting a Ph.D. and her license in psychology. She wanted to specialize in child psychology and even offered to help out if Sprout needed some therapy. She married a man whose name was I think Pe**y Pr**ster, and to my knowledge never practiced. Last I knew, which was many years ago, they were on staff in the bookstore or in printing or something at HQ. What a waste! She was smart, beautiful and gifted. I personally think God gives people the talent and abilities to help people in many categories and that was hers, then she gets tricked out of it by the narrow minded, stupid, ignorant dingbats at TWI. What a pity! WGT

When I took the Advanced Class on PFAL in 1976, they played a tape of a lecture by a man who had been a missionary in Communist China when they had some kind of persecution program I think called the Great Leap Forward or something (my history is rusty, sorry). At any rate they rounded him up with a group of Christians, Jews, anyone who professed any religion and they had to be re-educated that there is no god but Mao or something. The classes took place in a building where 6 foot deep vats were sunk into the ground, with just a couple of feet protruding. These vats were filled with the feces of the villagers themselves, deposited there to compost and become the fertilizer for next spring's crops. The "teachers", actually military men, made seats by balancing boards on the tops of these vats. The "students" sat on these boards. He told of one man, a rabbi, who flat out refused to listen, made a scene, and was immediately executed by being shoved head first up to his feet in one of the basins full of grub crawling, stinking human fecal material. The point, however, was not that the rabbi or anyone else (there were many, many Christians executed for their faith) but the importance of memorizing scripture which is what the lecturer did to keep his sanity. My brain kind of stopped with the rabbi's murder. I remember praying to saints being compared to idolatry. I think there is a balance. In some ways, many modern Protestants have lost out because we reject our church history. We need to remember that yes, from the day of Pentecost on, there were heroes of the faith who were tortured and killed for their beliefs. They were much, much, more than Sunday Christians, like many of us today. They got out there and turned the world upside down. WG

PB, go to a doctor, an ENT specialist if your PCP doesn't help you. Serious snoring can be very hard on the heart and lungs, leading to cardiac problems later in life. I do remember reading a column in Dear Abby years ago about a woman whose husband kept her awake snoring. She simply placed, with him watching, a baseball under the bed on her side. He never made another sound in his sleep! WG

Our first dog was half yellow lab and half Irish setter. He was smart, rowdy, and could be as independent as a hog on ice. His name was Brandy. Brandy grew to be larger than either of his parents. He was not particularly aggressive, but had no trouble defending himself or his humans. One day we were out for a walk and these three juvenile delinquents who should have been in school challenged me, "Hey! Does that dog bite?" I just smiled. "Wanna come over and fine out?" They left me strictly alone after that. He never picked on little dogs who came up to challenge him, though. He just lifted his leg and peed on them. WG

Jeez! That is so sad. I used to take care of their little boy when we were in prison, er, residence in FWC. WG

Thanks so much for posting those pictures. Since I was a child, one of the things I want to do before I die is tour the USS Constitution. We learned the poem about her in middle school or so: Ay, tear her tattered ensign down! Long has it waved on high, And many an eye has danced to see That banner in the sky; Beneath it rung the battle shout, And burst the cannon's roar; -- The meteor of the ocean air Shall sweep the clouds no more. Her deck, once red with heroes' blood, Where knelt the vanquished foe, When winds were hurrying o'er the flood, And waves were white below, No more shall feel the victor's tread, Or know the conquered knee; -- The harpies of the shore shall pluck The eagle of the sea! Oh, better that her shattered hulk Should sink beneath the wave; Her thunders shook the mighty deep, And there should be her grave; Nail to the mast her holy flag, Set every threadbare sail, And give her to the god of storms, The lightning and the gale! Oliver Wendell Holmes Originally her timbers were palmetto wood from South Carolina. Cannon just bounced off it. She was commissioned in 1797 by President George Washington. It was decided to tear her down and Holmes wrote that poem and then schoolchildren sent in pennies and she was saved. Today she is docked in Boston as a Ship of State. She is still as I recall considered an active warship of the United States Navy. She is from a better time than this. WG

What an expressive face! I had never seen a picture of a cardigan WC though I knew they existed. Thanks for posting it!